Blogs from China, Asia - page 2396

第三天，我们来到了大理－五朵金花的故乡。 旅行社首先安排我们乘船游苍山洱海，然后游蝴蝶泉、大理最著名的大塔－崇圣三塔、及大理古城。... read more

I'm now in Yangshou, China - possibly one of the most beautiful places we've been to on the entire trip. It's quite rural, and the main attraction is the limestone karsts - huge rock formations rising up as far as the eye can see. We've spent almost a week here, cycling around the countryside, climbing one of the peaks, taking a river-boat ride, and a trip to see cormorant fishing - very cruel! I've also had a dress and top custom-made for $5 and $3 respectively! Tonight we are taking an overnight bus to Hong Kong. I wonder how it will compare to the train - hopefully people won’t spit on the floor there too! Apart from a few disgusting habits, the Chinese people, contrary to what a lot of travellers say, are in fact very ... read more

Now that we have left civilised America, I should be able to find internet access more easily - crazy! We are now in Beijing after a tedious long-haul flight from San Francisco, setting off at mid-day on Saturday and arriving in Beijing on Sunday at 8.30pm due to the fact that we crossed the international date line. Not the best for jet lag! I had been expecting China to be really dirty and nasty and full of unfriendly rude people and dodgy food (after speaking to other travellers who have been there). On the contrary, however, I have found it to be remarkably clean and nice, and the people are friendly and are very patient with our complete lack of knowledge of the Chinese language. Mind you, we are in Beijing, so I imagine things might ... read more

Monday, July 17, 2000 Finally a really hot day in Xi'an and it really felt like summer, like Xi'an felt every day from June through August in 1995. The temperature was somewhere in the higher 90's, maybe even 100 and we were outside much of the day. Fortunately when the temperature soars in Xi'an the humidity really drops, so whenever we found shade we, perhaps I should say I, did not feel too uncomfortable. By the end of the day Amy, Bill, Nancy and I felt like we had were "well done in a slow oven." Today was a very full day. The university van picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and off we went to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. The driver, the same man who drove us to the airport to pick up ... read more

After the Heavenly Lake, we visited the Nanshan Pastureland, where the Kazakhs live and raise their livestock. When we were just about to leave, a hailstorm that lasted about 15 min broke out. Yiren was overjoyed to see stones of ice falling from the sky. It was indeed once in a life time experience for us. ... read more